St Edmundsbury Cathedral in Bury St Edmunds launches honey from its own rooftop hives

A cathedral in Bury St Edmunds has launched its latest product in its shop – honey from its rooftop hives.

St Edmundsbury Cathedral has four beehives on the roof with the bees able to forage across the Abbey Gardens.

Honeybees have an average foraging radius of two to three miles, so the flavour and colour of the honey they produce depends on the type of flowers from which the bees gather nectar.

The specific floral makeup of the honey changes from season to season, but it is usually a very dark, rich colour.

The honey is harvested late in the season so the bees have access to a wide range of flowers. It is spun out of the frame before being poured into jars.

The honey is not fine-filtered or heated above 35 degrees Celsius, which is the temperature inside a beehive, so that it goes into the jars with all the pollen enzymes and antimicrobial goodness still intact.

There are two types available which are runny and softset and can be purchased for £8.99.

Enterprises retail manager Jane Harrison said: “We are very pleased to be launching cathedral honey.

“To have a product for sale in the shop which is made only a few hundred metres from where it is sold is quite unique.

“I know it will be a big hit with local residents and members of the Cathedral community who will enjoy the idea of the bees producing honey on top of our very own cathedral roof.”